View source for Stephen Goosson

{{Short description|American art director (1889–1973)}}
{{Infobox person
| name        = Stephen Goosson
| birth_date  = {{Birth date|1889|03|24}}
| birth_place = Grand Rapids, Michigan
| death_date  = {{Death date and age|1973|03|25|1889|03|24}}
| death_place = Woodland Hills, California
| occupation  = Set designer
| years_active = 1920-1955
}}

'''Stephen Goosson''' (March 24, 1889 - March 25, 1973) was an American [[film]] [[set designer]] and [[art director]].
==Life==
Born in [[Grand Rapids, Michigan]], Goosson studied architecture at [[Syracuse University]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Stephens |first=Michael L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fYqACgAAQBAJ |title=Art Directors in Cinema: A Worldwide Biographical Dictionary |date=2015-09-02 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-1128-0 |pages=133–135 |language=en}}</ref> He worked as an [[architecture|architect]] in [[Detroit]] before moving to New York City in 1917 and studied at the [[Ecole des Beaux Arts (Paris)|Ecole des Beaux Arts of Paris]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S08_AAAAYAAJ |title=American Cinematographer |date=1922 |publisher=ASC Holding Corporation |pages=4 |language=en}}</ref> He started his film career as art director for producer [[Lewis J. Selznick]] in 1919, and films for [[Fox Film Corporation]] such as ''[[New Movietone Follies of 1930]]''. Gossoon made a name for himself working for [[Mary Pickford]] in 1921 when he invented new methods and materials for her film [[Little Lord Fauntleroy (1921 film)|''Little Lord Fauntleroy'']].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=ADG Hall of Fame - STEPHEN GOOSSON |url=https://adg.org/awards/hall-of-fame/stephen-goosson/ |access-date=2024-01-03 |website=adg.org |language=en}}</ref> He eventually was hired by [[Columbia Pictures]] in 1931, where he served as supervising art director for 25 years.<ref name=":0" />

Goosson was the principal designed for many of [[Frank Capra|Frank Capra's]] movies during Capra's time at Columbia in the 1930s, including ''[[American Madness]]'', ''[[It Happened One Night]]'', and [[You Can't Take It with You (film)|''You Can't Take It with You'']]. Besides his collaboration with Capra, Goosson's most important film of the 1930s was the screwball comedy ''[[The Awful Truth]]''.<ref name=":0" />
==Career==
Goosson was nominated for an Academy Award for the [[El Brendel]] musical [[Just Imagine (film)|''Just Imagine'']] and eventually won the [[Academy Award for Best Production Design|Academy Award for Best Art Direction]] for ''[[Lost Horizon (1937 film)|Lost Horizon]]''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Finler |first=Joel Waldo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rvVhEJmbfrsC |title=The Hollywood Story |date=2003 |publisher=Wallflower Press |isbn=978-1-903364-66-6 |pages=134 |language=en}}</ref> His designs for the film have been noted as excellent examples of the [[Streamline Moderne]] style that reached the height of its popularity that year. Additional credits include ''[[Mr. Deeds Goes to Town]]'', ''[[Theodora Goes Wild]]'', ''The Awful Truth'', ''[[Holiday (1938 film)|Holiday]]'', ''[[Meet John Doe]]'', ''[[The Little Foxes (film)|The Little Foxes]]'', and ''[[The Jolson Story]]''. In 1937, he was elected the first president of the [[Society of Motion Picture Art Directors]], the forerunner of the Art Directors Guild, and was elected for a second term in 1947; he was inducted into the Art Directors Guild Hall of Fame in 2007.<ref name=":1" />

In the late 1940s, he created the designs for three significant [[Film noir|''film noirs'']]: ''[[Gilda (film)|Gilda]]'' (1946), [[Dead Reckoning (1947 film)|''Dead Reckoning'']] (1947), and ''[[The Lady from Shanghai]]'' (1948).<ref name=":0" />

Goosson died of a stroke in [[Woodland Hills, California]].

==Selected filmography==
* [[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923 film)|''The Hunchback of Notre Dame'']] (1923)
* ''[[A Blonde for a Night]]'' (1928)
* ''[[Let 'Er Go Gallegher]]'' (1928)
* ''[[Just Imagine (film)|Just Imagine]]'' (1930)
* ''[[Shanghaied Love]]'' (1931)
* ''[[You May Be Next]]'' (1936)
* ''[[Lost Horizon (1937 film)|Lost Horizon]]'' (1937)
* ''[[The Awful Truth]]'' (1937)
* ''[[Women of Glamour]]'' (1937)
* ''[[She Married an Artist]]'' (1937)
* ''[[Murder in Greenwich Village]]'' (1937)
* ''[[Squadron of Honor]]'' (1938)
* ''[[Kiss and Tell (1945 film)|Kiss and Tell]]'' (1945)

==See also==
* [[Art Directors Guild Hall of Fame]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb name|id=0329684}}

{{Authority control}}
{{AcademyAwardBestArtDirection 1927–1940}}
{{Art Directors Guild Hall of Fame (2000s)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goosson, Stephen}}
[[Category:American art directors]]
[[Category:Best Production Design Academy Award winners]]
[[Category:Artists from Grand Rapids, Michigan]]
[[Category:1889 births]]
[[Category:1973 deaths]]
[[Category:American production designers]]
[[Category:Syracuse University alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century American people]]

{{US-artdirector-stub}}